Phil Bremner’s Grey Matters Journey so far...

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Published 11 Jul 2017

As we reach the 10th week of our Pilot of Grey Matters we reflect today on the accomplishments of one our participants to date. Grey Matters is a collaboration with Scottish Enterprise dedicated to supporting Senior Oil and Gas executives to create innovative new businesses, following their redundancy.

Phil Bremner’s Grey Matters Journey so far...

Throughout his 37 years in the global subsea industry, working for large contractors and operators, Phil Bremner harboured an idea for a business.

After being made redundant from his most recent post as a subsea development manager on an LNG project in Tanzania, Phil spotted an opportunity on LinkedIn and signed up for Grey Matters.

A new entrepreneurship initiative which aims to harness the experience, knowledge and innovation of senior oil and gas professionals who are either facing redundancy, or have been made redundant, Grey Matters is a joint initiative run by Elevator and Scottish Enterprise.

The 12-week programme offers an intense learning and growth experience in Elevator’s world-class centre for entrepreneurship in Aberdeen, designed to help drive forward the future of energy in Scotland by supporting a group of experienced individuals to work together to create several oil and gas businesses with high-growth potential.

Phil made the decision to attend and is now hoping that inkling of an idea will become a reality.

“I have been overwhelmed at the ‘can do’ attitude from the mentors, the knowledge shared and presented by academics and industry leading figures,” he said. “From day one, it has been such a great environment and everyone associated with this pilot is so motivated to help the cohorts succeed from their chosen business dream and turn it into a reality.”

Grey Matters is managed by David Christie, a former military officer in the RAF who also runs his own business, focused on entrepreneurship, leadership and management.

“Our morning huddle, orchestrated by David, is a unique meeting area that stimulates all kinds of banter and communication, and we have also hugely benefited from having access to and support from successful business leaders,” said Phil, who lives near Daviot in Aberdeenshire.

“Having the opportunity to be part of the first Grey Matters programme has meant a great deal to me. What may appear to others as a crazy notion is potentially then turned into a business idea – some call it imagineering – yet it’s so real.

“It offers not just collaboration and guidance but ‘hope springs eternal’ for the entrepreneur in us all. I hope that after 12 weeks, my aspirations for a start-up business are robust enough to be turned into a sustainable company that is both Scottish and scalable, with a mighty global impact.”